They discovered that fish larvae that survive a long, rough, offshore journey eventually arrive at a near
shore reef in good condition, and that they thrive afterwards. In contrast, locally produced young have a relatively
easy life and they arrive on the reef (near the area where they were spawned) in a variety of conditions –– from poor to
good. Only the young that are in good condition survive after a month on the reef. "This research delves into one of the
major questions of how populations are connected through dispersal," said Scott Hamilton, a postdoctoral fellow in the
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology (EEMB) at UC Santa Barbara. "We want to know where the young of
many marine organisms are coming from and going to, and what factors determine whether they survive." Click
here
to read
more.

From
McMaster
University
in
Hamilton,
Ontario,
Canada,

Female
Cichlids
Decide
which
Males
Dominate.

Aggression, testosterone and nepotism don't necessarily help one climb the social ladder, but the support
of a good female can, according to new research on the social habits of an unusual African species of fish. "We found
that changes in social status were regulated by the most dominant female in a social group", says John Fitzpatrick,
shown just above, lead researcher and a graduate student in the department of Biology at McMaster University. "In fact,
dominant females seemed to act as gatekeepers, allowing only males larger than themselves to move up in status and
become dominant." Working underwater off the Zambian shores of Lake Tanganyika in Africa, the researchers examined how
males respond to changes in social position in the cichlid fish, Neolamprologus pulcher, which is sometimes called the
Daffodil. This species lives in permanent social groups made up of a dominant male and female breeding pair and
subordinate males and females that help this pair look after young and defend territory. By removing the male breeders,
researchers created vacancies and provided an opportunity for subordinate males to rise through the ranks. Click
here
to read
more.

At the
National
Marine
Aquarium
in
Plymouth,
England,

The
Fish who
Knows
when
it's
Time to
Eat.

It's one of the facts that everyone knows and accepts: fish have little or no memory. But one particular
fish is busy dispelling this myth after a scientist has managed to train him to eat on command. The giant humphead
wrasse called Bentley, shown just above, knows that when a "dinner gong" is sounded in his tank it's time to go for
food. Experts say Bentley, who is a tropical fish, has learned to associate the noise with feeding time in an experiment
that mirrors the famous test carried out on dogs by Russian scientist, Pavlov. Click
here
to read
more.

In
Moscow

Russians
Plan for
Huge
Aquariums.

For those who feel a bit cut off from the sea here in Moscow, you may be pleased to hear that the Moscow
zoo at Krasnopresnenskaya will soon be introducing a huge aquarium with glass underwater passages. You can escape the
slush and pollution of the city streets and, for the duration of your visit, experience an almost underwater existence
as you make your way through the transparent corridors and marvel at the different species of fish. Click
here
to read
more.

From
Virginia
Tech
University
in
Virginia,
U.S.,

"Avalon
Explosion"
Shaped
Early
Multicellular
Life.

Scientists have known for some time that most major groups of complex animals appeared in the fossils
record during the Cambrian Explosion, a seemingly rapid evolutionary event that occurred 542 million years ago. Now
Virginia Tech paleontologists, using rigorous analytical methods, have identified another explosive evolutionary event
that occurred about 33 million years earlier among macroscopic life forms unrelated to the Cambrian animals. They dubbed
this earlier event the "Avalon Explosion." Click
here
to read
more.

Polytechnic
University
of
Marche,
Ancona,
Italy,

Swimmers'
Sunscreen
Killing
Coral.

Normal coral, shown above on the left, exposed to ultraviolet filters found in sunscreen "bleaches"
white, shown above on the right, when the algae living inside it die. Up to 10-percent of coral reefs are threatened by
sunscreen-induced bleaching, a new study found. Click
here to see the original
article in National Geographic.

U.S.
National
Marine
Fisheries
Service
in
Honolulu,
Hawaii,

The
Ocean's
Biological
Deserts
Are
Expanding.

The Sahara, the Gobi, the Chihuahuan - all are great deserts. But what about the South Pacific's
subtropical gyre? This "biological desert" within a swirling expanse of nutrient-starved saltwater is the largest, and
least productive, ecosystem of the South Pacific. Together with the subtropical gyres in other oceans, biological
deserts cover 40% of Earth's surface. But their relative obscurity may be about to change. Researchers are reporting
that the ocean's biological deserts have been expanding, and they are growing much faster than global warming models
predict. Click here
to read
more.

Callers during this Show

George from Colorado calls and talks
about his 120-gallon aquarium, ultraviolet sterilization,
and his plans for his next big aquarium.

Jay from Indiana calls and talks about
what Tom wants to talk about, and we never actually find out
why Jay called !!

The Bailey Brothers
encourage YOU to call Pet Fish Talk
during the show and talk about your pet fish.

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